The Oppenheim Group adds two new realtors to its ranks in Season 4 of Selling Sunset, and Vanessa Villela is by far the most mysterious of the two. Her fellow newbie, Emma Hernan, is fully engrained in the group's drama right from the start thanks to an ongoing feud with Christine. But Vanessa enters into the complex workplace dynamics with no idea where the battle lines have been drawn — and she's not overly interested with siding with Chrishell, Mary, and new realtor on the block Emma when it comes to the whole Christine is a supervillain narrative.

Vanessa's willingness to stand up to her fellow realtors combined with her wry commentary in the confessionals (for the record, I agree there's no such thing as a cheeseburger empanada) make her a much-needed wild card at Oppenheim. But the new Selling Sunset star isn't exactly an open book. Mostly, Vanessa observes her fellow realtors and tries her best not to take sides when they air their grievances with one another.

In the first episode of the season, she expresses a bit of apprehension about joining such a charged working environment, and as a result, she seems to keep her personal life to herself for the most part. And while that's definitely a wise move, it also makes it hard to get to know the real Vanessa in her debut season. Despite her decision not to share too many private details with her new Oppenheim pals, I did manage to dig up a few interesting facts about the former telenovela star via her Instagram and the interwebs.

1.She Starred In A Telenovela Inspired By Maid In Manhattan

Vanessa has been acting since 1991, so she's definitely no stranger to the small screen. She's primarily known for roles in telenovelas like El Cuerpo del Deseo, Eva Luna, and En Otra Piel. But the most interesting title on her résumé for rom-com fans has to be Una Maid en Manhattan, which is based on the 2002 classic Maid in Manhattan starring Jennifer Lopez as a single mom and maid who falls in love with a rich politician inexplicably played by Ralph Fiennes.

However, she doesn't play the telenovela's version of Lopez's character, but rather the best friend of the Fiennes stand-in who is secretly in love with him. Basically, she's the villain of the piece, which isn't unusual for her. Looking through her roles, Vanessa often played scheming soap characters, which no doubt gave her some valuable skills to draw on when she entered the lion's den that is The Oppenheim Group.

2. Vanessa Also Had A Brief Music Career

When it comes to the world of entertainment, Vanessa really has done it all. In addition to her career as a soap star and her recent foray into reality TV, she also had a brief singing career. As a teen, she was part of the singing group Valores Bacardi, and she even went on to release her own single, "Relativo."

In 2016, she told WomenFitness.net, "Singing is a spectacular experience that you can’t compare anything to. You have an audience in front of you to interact with. You can evoke all your passion and love to them in person, something you can never do while acting usually."

3. In Addition To Acting, Singing, & Selling Houses, She Also Has Her Own Line Of Bikinis

The women of Selling Sunset are nothing if not multifaceted. From Emma's empanada business to Chrishell's soap star past, they all have incredibly busy careers, and Vanessa is no different. In addition to being a realtor/actor/singer, she also recently launched her own line of bikinis with Lascivious.

4. Her Sister Guided Her Career Change In A Special Way

One of the first things Vanessa does on her first day is open up about how the death of her sister inspired her to switch careers and become a real estate agent. However, she didn't share the entire story. In a recent interview with E!, she revealed how she was close to giving up on her burgeoning realtor career when she asked her sister for a sign about whether or not she should continue.

"One day I sat in my car and I spoke to her," she said. "And I was like, 'Jackie, I need a sign. Please give me a sign. What should I do?' And then I opened my phone and I looked for open houses and...the first open house that I went to, the realtor, within the first five minutes of our conversation, he was like, 'I want you to work for me.'"

5. She Was Once A Blond Like 75% Of Her Selling Sunset Co-Stars

My ability to tell the women of Selling Sunset apart is hindered by the fact that 75% of them have blond hair, and they all basically look like slight variations of the same person. For that reason, I was eternally grateful to see Vanessa is a brunette, but it seems even she went through a blond phase back in 2019. Although she looked amazing, I'm thankful she went back to being a brunette before she joined the show for the purely selfish reason that at least there's one person on the show who I'm 100 percent certain isn't actually just Christine in a shorter wig.

Vanessa isn't exactly an open book, but with her long career in television, I suspect she knows how to bring the drama when she wants to.

Images: Netflix